Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. is nearing a deal to acquire the company behind the "Angry Birds" mobile game for about $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Japan-based entertainment conglomerate could seal a deal to buy Rovio Entertainment Oyj by early next week, assuming the talks don't break down or drag out, the people said.

Rovio previously was in talks to sell itself to Playtika Holding Corp. , an Israel-based rival, for more than $800 million. Those negotiations ended in March without a deal.

Sega Nears Deal For ‘Angry Birds’ Mobile Game Maker - WSJ

Finally.

We'll have that long awaited fan requested Sonic VS Angry Birds Multiverse game.

I feel like at the height of the Angry Birds craze Rovio would have been valued at way more than $1 billion.

y tho

Yeah, why? What could Sega gain from this? I didn't think Angry Birds was as big as it used to be.

This is huge, it's going to destabilise the industry and cause a sega monoply, it must be stopped.

I kind of love threads like these. It blows my mind how much some mobile developers are worth. You see Sony buy Insomniac Games for $229 million, and then you hear about some random mobile developer no one on gaming forums seems to have ever heard of getting sold for a $1 billion or something. It's just fascinating to me, that our collective knowledge on mobile gaming just doesn't seem like much compared to what people know about the console market.  

The third biggest gaming acquisition was Tencent acquiring only 81% of Supercell, and it cost more than Zenimax. And yet I bet more people here would recognize Zenimax than Supercell by a substantial margin.

That may or may not be true. And yet last year was their biggest revenue ever. 

Up slightly from 2017.

 I just don't consider mobile gaming real gaming. Just MTX munchers designed for no other purpose. Even in the Arcade era you technically could beat a game or reach a kill screen on 1 credit with enough skill. Mobile gaming just seems you can't do much unless you spend money. I'm sure there is some exceptions but it has to be less than %1 of anything decent not designed to be total bullshit. Like browsing a Walmart Wii shelf in 2009

We all know who Rovio is, but it would be lile buying MySpace, who even play Angry Birds anymore ? They past their prime a very long time ago